T-Pain: American Coon

I'm a real fan of rapper-turned-singer T-Pain's songwritiing and innovation, but his most recent bit of bling makes me sad. See, T-Pain paid 410K for an insane peice of jewelery, and just raised the bar for ridiculous hip-hop coonery to a whole new level. He says he splurged because he can, and I believe him. But why would he waste money on something that large that isn't an investment in someone's future?

We could attribute it to the shock and celebration of sudden wealth, but it's interesting that rapper Eminem has never been spotted with garrish chains or fancy whips, and he's trailer trash. Seems to me T-Pain could have started a scholarship or donated that money to an HBCU. I think I understand that sometimes you buy things just because you can, but this kind of coonery is troubling on som many levels. None of us has any obligation to represent Da Race, but can you not go out of your way to fall into every stereotype possible? What do you think?

Does T-Pain deserve to treat himself to a chain, or is this just Coons Gone Wild.